Marawi bishop slams destruction of cathedral
Marawi Bishop Edwin Dela Peña branded as “blasphemous” the destruction of several religious icons of the church as shown in the video released by the Islamic State’s Amaq news agency, which was taken in Marawi City as the siege entered its second week. AFP, file
MANILA, Philippines - Marawi Bishop Edwin dela Peña yesterday condemned the “demonic” destruction of a cathedral and religious icons by the Maute group.
Dela Peña branded as “blasphemous” the destruction of several religious icons of the church as shown in the video released by the Islamic State’s Amaq news agency, which was taken in Marawi City as the siege entered its second week.
“We are angered by what happened. Our faith has really been trampled on,” Dela Peña said.
The 1:36-minute video also showed some militants yelling “Allahu Akbar” while smashing religious icons, tearing up images of Pope Francis and Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI and burning the St. Mary’s Cathedral in the city.
“That is blasphemy! It’s unacceptable. It’s obvious that their actions are really out of this world. It’s demonic,” Dela Peña said.
According to Dela Peña, they received information that the militants are planning to destroy and burn the church, in the same method as IS extremists destroyed historical sites in Syria and Iraq.
“That’s really their plan even before according to the raw intelligence report that we’ve been receiving. But we didn’t take it seriously because for us it was unthinkable that it’s going to happen in Marawi,” he said.
Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) chief Gen. Eduardo Año said the Maute group is trying to spark a religious war in desecrating the church in Marawi.
He said the video, which was traced to have come from the Middle East, was a carefully plotted but failed propaganda aimed to further inflame hatred among Muslims and Christians in the Philippines.
“We don’t want to have a religious war. This propaganda was created to foment anger among the Christians and I appeal to our people to remain calm,” he said.
Año gave assurance that the AFP is exerting all efforts to finish the conflict in Marawi City the soonest as well as to rescue Fr. Chito Suganob, the priest held hostage along with an undetermined number of people.
Appealing for public understanding, Año said the presence of trapped civilians in the city is keeping government forces from launching a full-scale attack to drive out the terrorists from Marawi.
A week ago, the militants abducted Suganob, the vicar general of the Marawi prelature, and some staff of the cathedral and churchgoers.
A video circulated online showed Suganob appealing to President Duterte to stop the military offensives in Marawi City. – With Jaime Laude
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